Sepioteuthis australis
Southern calamary
Distribution
Temperate Australasia
Description
Appearance halfway between a squid and a cuttlefish, as the arms, head and body are typical of a squid but the side fins extend fully around the mantle rather than being diamond-shaped and located in the rear half of the body, as in most other species in the family. It also has the typical squid ‘pen’ running underneath the back, a translucent feather-shaped structure that is not calcified like cuttlebone but made of cartilage. It is the most common squid found in coastal bays. The species is readily caught on squid jigs and often seen by divers in the evening. It grows rapidly, reaching maturity at a mantle length of about 160 mm and an age of one year. Spawning occurs in shallow water during the night, at which time females release and attach clusters of white cylindrical eggs to the seabed. At some sites spawning is presumably communal, as egg clusters carpeting the bottom can appear overnight.
Information
Max Size: 55 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 11.1-23.3°C
Depth: 0–100 m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (6.7% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Few (4 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney